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THE Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) President, Mr Yakubu Maikyau, SAN, has urged legal practitioners to be agents of change in the face of myriads of problems confronting the nation.
Maikyau made the call while addressing newsmen at the unveiling of the theme and logo for its 2024 Annual General Conference, (AGC) set to hold in Lagos in August.
The theme of the AGC is , “Pressing Forward: A National Posture for Rebuilding Nigeria”.
He said the theme of the conference was selected as a fallout of President Bola Tinubu’s speech at the 2023 conference.
“Sometimes, one wonders what is really wrong, considering the fact that Nigeria is potentially the greatest country in the face of the Earth. But our experience does not reflect these potentials.
“We all know the blessings and how endowed we are as a country. Both in terms of the mineral resources and human resources.
“When you go across the world, you will see Nigerians doing exploits in different fields. It makes one to wonder what exactly we are not getting right as a nation.
“I believe that our attitude is mainly responsible for where we are today and what we are experiencing.
“The president at our last conference spoke on the need for us to press forward and change our attitude towards the way we do things.
“So the scripture and that statement of the president actually formed the basis for the inspiration we got in coming up with the theme of this year’s conference.
According to him, the association will begin the sensitisation of Nigerians on the importance of the conference and need to key into it.
“We have a plough on which we must put our hands, and you cannot put your hand on the plough and look back.
“We have to change our attitude towards the way we do things because if we are were we are today and are not satisfied, then we have to look at our attitude and change it,” Maikyau said.
Speaking on the choice of an eagle as the logo of the conference, the president said that the eagle was chosen because of its posture.
“We chose the eagle because of its traits. The eagle is a majestic creature, the eagle is a creature that is focused, bold and courageous.
“Nothing stops the eagle, it enjoys the storm in order to soar, so storms don’t intimidate the eagle.
“The eagle does not feed on dead animals, it goes for fresh meat. It launches itself and gets its prey.
“So anything that is associated with feeding on decomposed flesh or anything that can be likened to a corrupt meal should not be on our table.
“That is what the eagle is and that is the posture that we are admonishing Nigerians to wear as we press forward towards the business of rebuilding our country,” the NBA president said.
While announcing that the keynote speaker for the 2024 conference is Mrs Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, he also said that the three thematic aspects for the conference are security, economy and the administration of justice.
Also speaking, the Chairperson of the 2024 Conference Planning Committee, Mrs Oyinkan Badejo-Okosamya said that no fewer than 20,000 lawyers would be expected at the conference.
According to her, over 17,000 lawyers attended the 2023 conference and since then over 10,000 lawyers have been called to the bar, so that is our estimate for this year’s conference attendance.
She added that the 2024 conference had many firsts including that it was the first time the conference would be headed by an all female team.
She, however, said that since women were known for their attention to details, the conference would aim at addressing topical concerns around the thematic areas of security, economy and the administration of justice.
The News Agency of Nigeria, (NAN) reports that the conference would hold from Aug. 23 to Aug. 30.(NAN)
F.A
April 18, 2024
Tags: Legal practitioners Maikyau
